Letters: Setting a good example

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Setting a good example

On Sunday, June 16, I was walking on the treadmill at the wellness center with two friends. While walking, I took the contents out of my pocket and placed them in the drink holder. These items included my driver’s license, VA card and a fair amount of cash, all in a money clip.

I forgot these items when I left the center. Approximately two hours later, I realized the loss and assumed all was lost. I immediately drove to the center.

En route, the center called telling me the items had just been turned in. When I got there all was intact. I then met this honest citizen of Washington County. He is Bill Flanary, the superintendent of Washington County Schools. Thank you Bill.

STEVE TAYLORJohnson City

Tax carbon for climate solution

I wish to thank the JC Press and press staff writer Mackenzie Moore for the article about retired Vice Adm. Lee Gunn. The concerns he addressed in his talk with the Rotary Club are real and the United States military is taking them seriously. He spoke of the consequences of climate change and the scarcity of resources. Food supplies are being disrupted and fresh water supplies are dwindling because of increased levels of atmospheric CO2. This is already causing extremes in weather such as longer droughts, heavier rainfall, and stronger storms. There are coastal bases here in the United States that are already dealing with flooding because of rising sea levels. Our military does not have the luxury of pretending this will not be an issue that must be dealt with.

However, there is a solution that many conservative economists agree is the quickest first step toward mitigating the worst effects and would also provide a boost to our economy at the same time. This would be a simple price on carbon with a dividend back to all households as proposed by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. This gradual fee would increase year-to-year and give a clear economic signal to businesses to invest in cleaner energy sources. While the dividend would help families, keep it revenue neutral and encourage economic growth.

Our Rep. Phil Roe and our Sen. Lamar Alexander should support this type of legislation for the sake of our national security and the stability of our economy.

This should be a bipartisan bill supported by all parties to make it a lasting change. Political affiliation should not keep us from taking action to keep our military from facing a more difficult world.

LUKE CARTERJonesborough

Protesting is not a crime

Micah Van Huss should not represent us, the people of Washington County. He was elected to be a constructive conservative, to advance our causes, strengthen our community, and speak for us to the rest of the state. Instead, he has attached himself to charged social issues to stay in office.

The most striking example of Micah Van Huss’ wrong, indecent political behavior happened after the nationwide March for Our Lives rallies, student-led protests of gun violence and advocacy for safer gun laws. Schools in the area, including my own, University School, participated. Our March was less about politics than it was about reality: realizing that schools all over the country, including our own, weren’t safe and that we needed to use our voices to stand for what was right. Students from all walks of life and from all locations on the political spectrum participated. We were exercising our civic duties, seeing a problem, and pleading for better from our leaders, from our schools, and from our culture.

Micah Van Huss released a statement in the JCP promising to make it illegal if he were reelected. He claimed University School was “pandering to the students and the liberal left,” and that students being able to protest was “irresponsible.” That day I lost respect and admiration for Mr. Van Huss. He was completely uninformed about our efforts but yet was so adamantly against us. He believed that our freedom to speak, assemble, and petition garnered consequences. He believed that our school, which had followed the Tennessee Department of Education’s guidelines, had facilitated illegal actions and wanted to hold them accountable. He wanted to rob us of the liberties that he said he championed. That day, he made me ashamed to call myself a conservative under the same political tent as him.